Ducati’s Smrz Tops Miller World SBK Q1

Although rain plagued the first free practice at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah Saturday, Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati’s Jakub Smrz pushed his 1198R to a 2:02.138.

The Czech’s time may not seem impressive, but it was over two seconds faster than BMW Motorrad’s Marco Melandri.

And when the rain stopped in the afternoon, and the Miller circuit dried, Smrz was once again pushing hard. Under dry conditions, Smrz took the provisional pole for round 6 of the 2012 World SBK Championship after posting a 1:49.842.

But only 0.070 of a second behind was the man who doubled at the round last season en route to his first-ever World Superbike Championship – Althea Racing Ducati’s Carlos Checa. The Spaniard finished Saturday’s Q1 session ahead of Melandri and Aprilia Racing’s Max Biaggi, respectively.

Taking the fifth- and sixth-quickest times Saturday during Q1 were Checa’s teammate Davide Giugliano and Smrz’s teammate Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing), respectively, making for four Ducati 1198 superbikes out of the top six.

The man who took four poles this season, Kawasaki Racing’s Tom Sykes, crashed out during qualifying, finishing ninth fastest.

The grid will return to Miller Sunday for another practice and qualifying session ahead of Monday’s double header, which takes place on Memorial Day in the states.